Walk Around the Site

December 15, 2013

Expect God-through Prayer

On
this 3rd week of Advent, we continue to look at how to Expect God
to Act in our lives. God does act, even when we aren’t aware of it. Expecting
God is becoming aware of the Holy in our lives again. It is rediscovering the
“faith of a child” that simply waits with expectation for God to be present and
act. Advent seems the perfect time to wait in expectation.

Expectant
waiting is not just a passive thing. It’s not just sitting around waiting for
God to show up. Think about Mary and Joseph as they waited in expectation for
their Child to be born. Anyone who has ever been a parent or around an
expectant couple knows they didn’t just sit around. They had to do things to
get prepared. The cradle and the swaddling clothing had to be made. They had
time to consider how their lives would change with the addition of a baby.

There
are things we can do prepare ourselves to expect God. Active waiting might
involveputting down the i-pad and going for a
walk. Even if you don’t find God right away, you may improve your health! On
the other hand, you may just catch a glimpse of the Holy. Hands Free Mama,
another blog I catch periodically notes, “If you should happen to catch a
glimpse of what really matters in life, regard it with care. Decorate it with
flowers. Cover it with love. Hold it in the sunshine. Give it a little bit of
your time and attention. And if the world tries to push you forward, listen to
your heart instead. Because if you don’t make time for what really matters, no
one else is going to do it.” (sorry I can't find the exact post for this quote.)

I think that what she says can carry over into our Expecting
God in the day-to-day. When we do see or experience or notice God we should
pause and regard God, care for the time, decorate it, perhaps, and certainly
love and be loved by God. We should hold and give the Gift of God our time and
attention so that we can hear that still small voice of God.

One way to do that is prayer. Not necessarily the rote
prayers we may say regularly, but quiet time spent expecting and waiting for
God. Joan Chittister comments, “Prayer
is an attitude toward life that sees everything as ultimately sacred,
everything as potentially life-changing, everything as revelatory of life’s
meaning. It is our link between daily-ness and eternity.” (taken from a FB post
11/19/13)

Finding
and keeping a prayer time can help to rediscover the anticipation of the
child’s faith and the awareness of God’s presence. And prayer can be done while
walking or while kneeling, while sitting on a bus or in the quiet of your room.
God is delighted when we turn to him in prayer, which is of itself a form of
faith and expectation. We pray because we expect God to be there. And when we do pray, we hear God say-I Love You.

Some
might argue that prayer isn’t a very active way of Expecting God. On the other
hand, prayer can be very intense and indeed active. Prayer in itself is waiting
expectantly to hear God and to know God. Continuing to practice time with God
will help you find that God is present in the day-to-day...maybe when and where
you’d least expect to find God.

This
prayer from another blog I follow encapsulates, for me, what we want when we wait
and pray expectantly, esp. in Advent:

We're waiting for a revolution;
Waiting for the impossible.

We're waiting for change,
For the coming of the One.

We're waiting to be told,
"Yes,"
To be included.

Go with hope that,
Whatever you are waiting for,
God will answer
The prayer of your heart.

Will you take some time during the rest of this
busy season to “catch
a glimpse of what really matters in life [and] regard it with care”? Will I?

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Welcome to Footprints from the Bible, a place where we can journey together in discoveries about God and the stories of the Bible. Cynthia Davis is the author of a dozen books, including 6 novels about Bible life and times as seen through the eyes of the men and women of the Bible. Come along on the adventure of meditations, books, art, retreats and study topics.